India Elections: Narendra Modi leads with massive hologram campaign

By Todd GilchristIf the Bharatiya Janata Party prevails in the country’s upcoming election it may be thanks to a high tech approach

April 12, 2014 9:28 am

After presiding over the Indian parliament for ten years, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s United Progress Alliance may face an upset at the voting booths this Spring. Prime ministerial hopeful Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janat Party used holographic technology yesterday to appear live and in 3D at 88 locations across the country. He delivered his message loud and clear: “I want India to become a digital Nation!”

Two recent polls about the upcoming election projected that Modi could claim majority control of the country’s parliament, ending the current regime’s decade-long control of the country’s government. Modi made the appearances via hologram technology supplied by Musion–the inventor of Eyeliner, the highest quality hologram device available today–and expects to create 3-4000 total events across the country during the voting period. (Musion has been in the news in America and the U.K. lately because of its partnership with Alki David‘s FilmOn and his projects involving Amy Winehouse, Audi’s MIA and Janelle Monae party and his lawsuit against Cirque du Soleil for their Michael Jackson show’s unauthorized used of the technology.)

According to a Reuters report, the shake-up could impact the country’s foreign policy. Aides of the candidate, who is a Hindu nationalist, have suggested that he will take a harder stance in territorial disputes with China and in its ongoing conflict with Pakistan.

Per the polls, Modi’s ascendance to the position of prime minister may transpire concurrently with a majority control of parliaments by the BJP. After achieving significant economic growth as chief minister of Gujarat state, Modi has mounted a successful campaign by positioning himself as a leader who eschews bureaucracy and gets results.

According to India’s The Pioneer: “Modi will address lots of people from 6:30pm to 8:00 pm, sitting at one place. Before Modi’s speech, street plays named “BhrashtacharMukt-Sushasan Yukt Bharat”, “Sabka Sath” and “Ek Bharat SreshthaBharat” would be staged. Renowned poets will also recite poems on good governance at the venue.”

The amount of locations planned has varied in recent weeks, with some outlets reporting there will be 100 locations to others (such as the Pioneer) reporting there will be as many as 1000. The 3D rallys were initially planned for April 7 but were postponed until April 11. According to the Times of India, a BJP leader has said, “We plan to get 1,000-2,000 people at each location.”

Modi tested Musion’s hologram technology before, according to the company’s owners Giovanni Palma and Uwe Mass. (Mass invented the technology.) During preliminary elections in Gujarat, he staged as many as 55 simultaneous live talks. In Beverly Hills, CA, FilmOn has opened a demonstration studio for execs in advertising, marketing, entertainment, and yes, political campaigning, to experience the technology.

Using Musion’s holographic technology means that Narendra Modi and his team will be able to run their campaign at a scale otherwise logistically impossible, particularly as elections in India are on a size like nothing else: 814 million people are eligible to vote, with an expected turnout of 70% and 1.2 million square miles to cover.

Meanwhile, opinion of Singh’s UPA has fallen in polls thanks to retail inflation, especially increased food prices, and underwhelming economic growth. Nevertheless, Modi’s reputation is imperfect: he is still held responsible for communal riots in Gujarat some 12 years ago, when more than 1,000 people, most of them Muslims, were killed.

Voting began Monday, April 7, and will continue until May 12. Results from the election will be revealed on May 16.

Watch a variety of general Indian family entertainment programming on Infinity TV, on FilmOn: